This Is How Emma Stone Dealt With Her Mom's Breast Cancer Diagnosis. Can You Relate?

When she was 19, Emma Stone had to have a talk with her mom that, unfortunately, too many of us have experienced with our own loved ones as well: Emma's mother, Krista, had been diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, a particularly aggressive kind of cancer because it's estrogen receptor-negative, progesterone receptor-negative, and HER2-negative (the most successful cancer treatments target those receptors).

The actress flew from Los Angeles back home to Arizona as often as she could in order to provide support during her mom's tough treatments, which included a double mastectomy and a year and a half of chemo.

Her mom added, "I'm sure, in private, Em lived in fear and anxiety. But she really shifted into this [mode of], 'We're going to take care of this, and everything's going to be fine." And, good news: Krista just celebrated five years of being cancer-free!

When my mom called me from two thousand miles away to tell me she'd been diagnosed with colon cancer, I think my reaction was almost identical to Emma's: positive and supportive on the outside, terrified and bewildered on the inside. Until that point, there was some part of me that thought my parents would live forever.

It's so easy to feel helpless when it comes to cancer. But here's a simple way to feel like you're doing something: the American Cancer Society—which celebrates its 100th birthday today—has three pledges that you can make online. Donate funds, join an ACS study, or just make healthy choices (exercising 150 minutes each week, eating well, avoiding tobacco, and getting recommended cancer screenings). It's a start, right?

__Have you ever had the "I have cancer" conversation with a friend or family member? How did you deal with the diagnosis—and subsequent treatment? __